Animethon 17 Review

I was in the Artist Alley all weekend but I did happen to make it out to a couple of panels. So this review will really only be on a couple of things that happened at Animethon this year.

Also just to note I did not get many photos however if you're looking for photos I would direct your attention to the ASAPA forums, the Anime-Alberta forums, and to check out Conventions Canada.

I'm going to start with the two panels I was able to make first and then dive right into Artist Alley.

Friday - SCT Presents: Late Night Giga Improv Breaker

I missed the first half of the show, and the part where they drop their pants. I wish I had made it in time for that just because they usually try to do something different with it every time. Although I did like the orange and black tights that Erinn Watson and Ryan Caron were wearing.

It was very high energy. Kyle Herbert made an appearance on stage too with Will Wood as they tried to act out a scene they saw Ian Horner and Erinn Watson had done. Kyle and Will could watch the scene that Ian and Erinn did but couldn't hear them, then they were suppose to act out that same scene but put in the dialogue they thought would fit. This resulted in Kyle and Will changing voices quite a bit (not unexpected coming from voice actors really).

I could go in more detail but as these late night shows tend to not allow video or photography I suppose this saying would be appropriate "What happens at Late Night, stays at Late Night." Meaning you really have to go to see what happens.

Saturday - How to Improv with SCT

Because I was in the Alley I also missed the beginning of this panel. However I was able to catch the majority of it.

The name kind of gives it all away but it's part lecture, part demo, and part participation. There's lots of group activities going on so you can see how the rules of improv work out for yourself. Wait rules?
That's right improv has rules... well sort of. Personally I'd call them more like guidelines. After all it's pretty much just there to help you get better and get the jokes flowing that much faster.

It's also fun since it gives you a chance to see how some of the games work and just how hard it can be to do things like "speak all in one voice" with two other people.

All Weekend - Artist Alley

This is where I was all weekend. The Alley was open on Friday starting at 5pm. This was something new they were trying this year and personally I think it worked great.

There were lots of talented artists in the Alley and I got to meet a lot of people I had met online in real life. Since the Alley is a different experience for everyone I'm just going to list some of the highlights:

• Binder Dude - He went around commissioning a lot of the artists by getting them to pick a character they like from one of his binders he carried around all weekend.
• Cosplay - The amount of cool costumes people wore coming in and out of the Alley.. amazing!
• Sewing - During downtime I was hand sewing on Luma eyes. There was the odd person who would stop and watch.
• Pink Domo - This refers to a guy who was taking a pink Domo around and he'd take a picture of the person hugging it. He was there last year and this year wanted to break his picture taking record.

Probably the number one thing that I find the most awesome about the Alley is the community aspect of it. There's always a good energy in the Alley and lots of people getting to know each other for the first time.

It's fun to stop and watch those who can draw draw and even ask others for advice on how they might do something. I don't think I've every come across an artist not willing to talk about what they do and help a fellow artist.

Final Thoughts

I had a blast at Animethon. I was tired every night and every morning and yet it seemed to end far too soon. This has had to have been my favourite year yet!